Blood disorders have marked Sandra Moran's family in devastating ways.

Her twin daughters developed Leukemia soon after their birth. Moran fought the disease by their daughters' side until their last days. She did the same for her sister, who died of Lymphoma at the age of 39.

The disease seems to have claimed a few battles, but the Morans are still fighting. And this time, they are using music.

I’ve been reading Jenny Rosenstrach’s Dinner: A Love Story
mostly to shame myself into cooking more often. In case you don’t know,
Rosenstrach has become somewhat famous for her dinner diary that chronicles
everything she’s eaten for dinner since 1998. She also has made cooking and
eating with her family one of her top priorities, and she pens a website that
helps other parents to do the same.

There was a time when I cooked and my husband and I ate what
I cooked at the same time. Then a kid entered the picture and my husband opened
a business, too. Soon I was eating dinner alone with a baby, saving the leftovers
for the husband. The kid grew. Sometimes we ate together as a family. Other
times we didn’t.

When last year’s Allentown gas explosion in 2011 destroyed 8
homes, former professional fundraiser and performer Kirsten Rani Almeida of
Hellertown threw together a theater event that raised more than $1,000 for the
victims.

Now Almeida is turning her attention to victims of domestic
violence and has organized a production of the Off-Broadway
musical revue “A… My Name Is Alice,” to raise money for Turning Point of the
Lehigh Valley.

The performance which will feature six professional actresses, a live
band and include dinner at the newly-opened performance space “Five,” in the Allentown
Brew Works will help kick off National Domestic Violence Awareness Month with performances Oct. 4 and 5.

“This is a dream show for me,” says Almeida who will perform in
the show. “This show has strong characters who are empowering each other.”

“A… My Name Is Alice,” which won the Outer Critics Circle Award for
best revue in 1983, consists of 20 songs by Broadway composers such as Easton
native David Zippel who was lyricist for the musical “City of Angel” and Lucy
Simon, who composed the score for the musical “The Secret Garden” along with
sketches by writers, including comedian Anne Meara, mother of Ben Stiller who is
married to Allentown native Christine Taylor.

The songs and sketches are performed by a six-member all-female
cast of different ages and types. Each character introduces herself by reciting
an adult update on the children's ABC rhyme. The stories follow strong women in
all different walks of life from long-time friends to sisters dealing with
sibling rivalry.

The show also stars Andrea Cartagena, Nina Elias, Janis Greim,
Christine Hjorth and Mim Paquin, many of whom have performed at the Spotlight
Cabaret, run by Almeida’s Star of the Day Event Productions, held monthly at
the Brew Works.

Tickets are $40 for a buffet dinner, non-alcoholic drinks, and
the show. Show-only tickets are $25. There will be a cash bar available. Dinner
starts at 6 p.m. and the show at 7:30 p.m.

Turning Point of Lehigh Valley helps victims of domestic violence
by providing shelter and support services.

“If we get together as a community, if we can educate one person
at a time, we can stop this from happening,” says Almeida..

There is a certain peace to Toseef Mughal’s steady grin that reveals a quiet acceptance.

Seven months ago, he fell ill with complications from a common strep throat. The infection spread to his bloodstream and caused his organs to shut down. Doctors were forced to amputate part of both feet and the tips of several fingers to save his life.

On Saturday, the Allentown fire police will host a fundraising event at the Allentown Fairgrounds to aid in the 9-year-old boy’s recovery and to assist the family with mounting medical bills. His father, an Allentown fire police volunteer who served with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, is unemployed.

“I’ve been to Iraq,” said Shoukat Mughal of South Whitehall Township, “and I’ve never seen something like this. I like to get the warning so that I can prepare, but there were no symptoms, there was nothing.”

Mughal’s family is originally from Kashmir, a Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan. His father recently traveled to the United States to help with the crisis, but the stress seems to have taken a toll on him. He recently underwent triple-bypass surgery in New York after suffering a heart attack.

“It’s been just a flood,” Mughal said. “Sometimes we look back and try to figure out how we did it.”

It’s a lot to take in, and they still can’t fathom what turned a common strep throat infection into a life-threatening affliction.

In February, Toseef had a sore throat. His parents took him to the emergency room, and he was released four hours later. The next morning, the boy was having trouble breathing. His parents brought him to their family physician, Dr. Sweety Jain, who noticed the boy was in danger, suffering from septic shock.

Toseef was taken back to Lehigh Valley Hospital and flown in a helicopter to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The boy spent 14 days on a ventilator and more than a month hospitalized. Doctors gave him antibiotics to battle the infection. The staff initially told Mughal that Toseef needed to have both hands and feet amputated. But the treatment reversed some of the damage in his extremities and doctors were able to save most of his hands and part of his feet.

It made a great difference. Toseef, a fifth-grader at Parkway Manor Elementary School, is now able to move with a walker. He can use his hands to play video games and is expecting to wear special shoes that will make walking a little easier. It’s still painful some days, but he doesn’t stay still.

His father once hoped that Toseef would join the military, but that dream is gone. What remain are Toseef’s dreams, and he has a lifetime to create them.

“The sky is the limit for him,” Mughal said, “and he is going to do a lot more than what we think he can do these days.”

Mughal, who has five children besides Toseef, is grateful to the Allentown fire police and to the community for the support the family has received so far. He is asking those who can afford it to help foundations responsible for researching sepsis so that other children can be spared from the disease.

The fundraiser runs 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fire police departments throughout Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks and Carbon counties will compete in several challenges. Local car clubs will display classic cars. There will be rides, food vendors and live music. Admission is $10.

To donate or to learn more about the event, contact Candy Dannenhower at Cuddlybear090@aol.com. Checks can be made to Allentown Fire Police, P.O. Box 386, Allentown 18105.

It was mid to late August when I first noticed advertisements
for various flu clinics. They elicited the same sinking feeling I get when I
see a department store with Christmas trees this time of year. I thought, “Really?
Flu shots? Now?”

A person should be able to enjoy the last days of summer and
even the early days of fall without having to worry about such things, don’t
you think?

I felt compelled to know, “Is it ever too early to get a flu
shot?” For that answer I went to Carol Hunter, MD, a family practice physician
at Valley Family Medical Center in Emmaus.

“That’s a good question,” she said. “Personally I think it
is too early. The immunity from the vaccination only lasts three to four
months. My worry would be that people immunized in August or September won’t
have any immunity left when the flu hits in December and January.”

It could be argued, she said, that immunizing people early
prevents the flu from taking hold, stopping a winter outbreak before it can start.
That argument, however, is based on a huge assumption: that most people will
actually get the vaccine. Ask various friends whether they get vaccinated each
year. Many don’t.

So relax. There’s no rush to roll up your sleeve. The best
time to get vaccinated, Dr. Hunter says, is October or November.

Not planning on getting vaccinated? I’ve taken that gamble
myself in the past, but here are a few surprising facts to keep in mind.

TIM DARRAGH has been reporting and editing the news for 30 years, most of it at The Morning Call. For much of that time, he's been doing award-winning investigative and in-depth reporting projects. Tim created the three-year-long Change of Heart project, and wrote a series on the state's fractured food inspection system that led to widespread improvements in food safety. Meantime, that novice jogger you see plodding along the streets around Bethlehem Township? That would be Tim.